your family. so glad that you and your kids are safe. we hope for a much better 2021 for you. thank you. >> thank you. can i have 30 seconds to thank these people? >> i'm sorry. we do have to go. here's eric shawn. >> eric: i'm eric shawn in nor bill hemmer. as covid relief checks are on the line, the house passed the bill to increase payments to most americans to $600 to $2,000. now it's up to mitch mcconnell to bring that bill to the floor. and we're exactly one week away from the crucial run-offs in georgia that will determine which party controls the senate that could president-elect biden's agenda the next two years. covering all the angles for you right now. steve harrigan live in atlanta. john bussey from the "wall street journal" is with us.

first, let's go to mike emanuel reporting from washington on the latest negotiations for the $2,000 payment. mike? >> top democrats tried to force the issue this afternoon, trying to bring up $2,000 stimulus checks today. >> we should not adjourn until the senate holds a vote open both measures, the ndaa veto override and the house bill to provide $2,000 checks for the american people. >> ndaa is an annual defense bill. price tag, $740 billion, which president trump vetoed. the senate majority leader would like to hold the vote to override tomorrow. >> congress has returned to enact the 60th annual national defense authorization act in to law. not once in six decades has a congress let its differences prevent it from completing its work for the national security and our men and women who wear the uniform. >> mcconnell is not saying no.

he's saying not now on the $2,000 checks. but a keep progressive says defense bill is not the priority right now. >> working families need help now. not next year, but right now. >> democrats are hoping pressure will build on republican leaders with the critical run-offs in georgia a week from today and both senators eager to be out on the campaign trail since their races will decide control of the senate. both senators, david purdue and kelly loeffler said they're with the president on $2,000 stimulus checks. >> i stood by the president 100% of the time. i'm proud to do that. i've said absolutely we need to get relief to americans now. i will support that. >> to be clear, even if they voted on the $2,000 stimulus checks, it's not clear that they have enough votes to pass the bill. so far five republicans are on the record in favor. they need at least 12 to reach

60 yes votes to approve it. eric? >> eric: thanks, mike. are they going to get more? john bussey is with us, editor from the "wall street journal." john, the majority blocked a unanimous vote for the $2,000. what to you think if this will go to a full vote? you think the checks will go out? >> it's up clear. there's some republicans that might have said it initially and wanted the $600 that the administration initially negotiated. this was the number that steve mnuchin and the treasury secretary pushed. there might be some that even though they have that position early want to side with the president. we've seen that before. so the votes could be unclear. this is something that mitch mcconnell doesn't want to bring to a vote. he doesn't want to expand the payment. they're worried about the deficit. he wants to override the president's veto of the defense bill. >> eric: look at what your own paper says. it says it's a gift to the

democrats saying trump gives schumer an assist. the president writes a $2,000 check to make democrats the majority. don't you think the majority leader is worrying about that right now? >> he is. this is a place where he diverges from the president. that's on the news side of the journal. he doesn't want to walk down this road. the other thing he's said to get the president past not signing the bell, to get him to sign the bill, he would look at the complaints that the president has about this bill, about the defense bill. notably the president false accusations that there was voter fraud. mcconnell doesn't want to walk down that road either. the supreme court justices that are republican and democrat, republican governors, republican secretaries of state have said that the president's claims are false. you've lost the election. so mcconnell doesn't want to reopen that box. he wants to get to the override of the defense bill and then try

to keep the level of payment to individuals in the stimulus checks to $600. >> eric: then he's got the president in mar-a-largo, the democrats snipping at his heels. republicans were against it. there was that concern about the deficit. $28 trillion. republicans legitimately concerned that although it would be get a lot of money into people's hands right now that need it, they're concerned about the deficit, increased spending that they say is $2,000 that won't create one job. >> a lot of it will probably or some of it at least, eric, will go into savings. the savings rate is up. meme don't know what will happen next, whether they're going to get laid off. so some of these checks, some of this money is going to people that need it right away. it's very important for them. some of it will go to people that don't need it right away. mcconnell is looking at the $3.1

trillion budget deficit that closed october 30, 2020. he doesn't want that to repeat itself. given the fact that there's no national plan, the white house has been very confused about how to address the coronavirus crisis, it's getting worse, not better. stimulus is likely to be needed again. so he's thinking of all of those steps. does he want to keep powder dry at this point for use later on. >> eric: we'll see what happens later on today. coming days also and see if it gets to a floor vote. stick around. we'll talk about georgia in a second. the key run-off races are less than a week away until georgians decide. that race will decide america i've legislative agenda for the next two years because control of the senate is on the line. steve harrigan reporting live on the race today from atlanta. hi, steve. >> that's right, eric. early voting still underway.

more than 2.3 million people have voted early. if you compare the pace to the general election in november, it's at about 80% of the pace that people voted in the general election. one area where there's high turnout are the democratic suburbs around the city of atlanta. jon ossoff says that is because the democrats have a strong ground game. >> we are running the largest get out the vote effort in american history. we have called more than 5 million georgia voters in recent weeks. we're knocking on tens of thousands of doors per day. all of this turnout effort -- this money is not just going to television, this is turnout work and the voter protection work. >> republican senator kelly loeffler said the two democrats are too radical for the state of georgia. he said the stakes in these two senate run-offs couldn't be higher. >> we need georgians to get out and vote. because we have to make sure

that we're the fire wall to stopping the radical agenda of chuck schumer. he wants to change this country. that's why i'm crisscrossing the state, that's why david is out every day. we're going to get this job done. but we need georgians to turn out and vote. >> president trump will come back to georgia, dalton georgia, to make sure he gets out the rural republican vote. back to you. >> eric: a big day next week. "wall street journal" editor john bussey is back with us. he didn't go away. you know who supports the $2,000 payments? senators loeffler and purdue. did the president put them in a pickle or is it a way to push them to victory? >> they do now. they don't want to be cross-wise with the electorate getting a bigger paycheck than otherwise. you're seeing a shift in opinion in the republican party in general. you're seeing a couple more saying yes to the president. so it might go through.

what happens in the georgia elections i think is not lost on georgians. this is a notably important election that is taking place on january 5. it will decide who is running the senate. mitch mcconnell is very conscious of that. currently he is. he doesn't want to lose his role as leader of the senate. the polls are showing that this is too close to call right now. the voter turnout has been really substantial at times, even greater than november 3 initially at some points in the voter -- in the early voting process. whether or not trump is a positive or a negative can be read in several ways. his coming visit to georgia, there's concern that he might once again, you know, argue that the georgia election was fraud even though it wasn't. and that might cause some republican voters to say well, look, if he doesn't believe the voting system is legit, why go to the polls?

>> eric: you have that push but i guess sydney powell and lynn wood to ask republicans to boycott it because of that. let's say the president does not do that let's say he says look, i'm fighting for you for $2,000 and kelly and purdue here, dave, they're doing the same thing. wouldn't that really help the republican cause? >> i think so. if he stays on message and does as you describe. that could very much get his base out, which would be the base for purdue and loeffler. that would be a big positive for them. if he goes down and instead starts fighting with the republican governor, starts fighting with the republican secretary of state, that could cause the fractiousness that the republican party is worried about. it would take away from a strong ground game from the

republicans. the republican machinery in georgia is also very strong. they're spending -- the democrats have more money that they're spending, but the republicans are spending strongly as well. so -- >> eric: what do you think, john, would be a theoretically deciding factor? you think most georgian voters are thinking about their local issues? we heard about the allegations of socialism, trying to tie warnock's comments in the past. you think the voters are going in, thinking about they may have the fate of the u.s. senate in their hands when they vote? >> the coronavirus, the spread of the coronavirus, the fact that it's not being stemmed is going to be a big factor again. this argument that the democrats are somehow radical, you know, as loeffler were saying, socialists, even though it's not. this is a fairly middle of the

road administration that is taking form in washington. that has resonated with voters. it worked in a lot of cases in the general election. it's not surprising they're doubling down on that as well. the president's visit could also be decisive. he's good at rallying his base. if he stays on message as you suggest. >> eric: we'll see if he stays on message and what happens less than a week away. thanks, john bussey. we're getting more pieces of the puzzle behind the horrific bombing that rocked nashville. police putting out a new video of the events early christmas morning. and if he believed in conspiracy theories about 5g technology. a warning from way back in may is getting new attention about that. what it said and why some people are calling for a tax on cell towers next. don't do that.

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>> eric: police in nashville have released body cam video from the shocking bombing on christmas day. the associated press reports the suspect in this gave away his car saving he had cancer. he also gave away his home to a woman friend that lives in los angeles now. mike tobin live in nashville with the latest. hi, mike.

>> the police body camera video shows what police face as they responded first to the evacuation of downtown. you can see the police officers going door-to-door with a warning blaring from the rv in which the bomb was planted. then you hear the blast. metro nashville police run to the danger escorting people out of the blast zone. part of the difficulty with the investigation is that the rv in which the bomb was planted was blown to bits. investigators from the state troopers and atf and fbi sifted through the debris and put together enough pieces of the vehicle to establish a 17-digit vin number. that led to the name of anthony warner. in the car, they pulled a hat

and a glove and dna off of it and made the positive i.d. nashville businesses are struggling after taking this hit. peter opened a downtown restaurant in 2019. first he got hit by a tornado and then covid. he was hoping christmas would mark a new beginning. >> we're in ground zero. we had a virus hit and then this. you can't recognize it anymore. to go there, it will take several weeks. >> despite everything, he considers himself lucky. he had a christmas party planned after his business hours after the blast. there's a curfew for the area surrounding the blast. it was just extended by another day today. back to you, eric. >> eric: the chilling body camera of the police officer reminds us of the law enforcement. investigators are looking at

whether or not mr. warner was paranoid about 5g technology. back in may, the feds warned of the increase in threat against 5g facilities. according to one bulletin obtainobtain ed yahoo news. it appears that anthony warner was aiming to take down the at&t phone transmission center. the red brick building. he parked the rv next to it. he was an i.t. computer guy. his late father worked for bellsouth. you think a 5g conspiracy is a viable explanation for what he did? >> well, he certainly had a lot of personal issues. ultimately it's going to be hard for us to determine. the guy that knows, anthony warner, is not with us anymore. there's no discussion with him about what motivated him. we'll be speculating. what is important going forward is talking lessons learned and

map out the vulnerabilities that warner exploited and close those off so that other adversaries, terrorists and individuals, criminals, can't do the same sorts of things that warner did. >> look at a car bomb next to a windowless building like many of those are in different cities around the country when you see them. it took out a wide swath of cell phone service and 911 in several states. how vulnerable is our telecommunication infrastructure system? >> well, in this case, very vulnerable. the first thing you want to do is assume that you'll be attacked, whether it's in cyber space or geographic space and make sure you have an incident response place, which includes continuity of operations. we didn't have that here. 911 service was out. the other thing is to defend ourselves at the point of

attack, at the at&t building, i'm sure there's consideration for more street patrols, more surveillance cameras. the rv should have been spotted in advance. farther out, there's a planning stage, a surveillance stage. warner had been to that site before to case it out and then the attack phase. you like to catch someone farther out left and preempt the attack. >> eric: what you think we should do now to protect our infrastructure facilities better? >> again, i think we need to harden our defenses with more set-back from the streets. i'm sure that is some of these buildings will consider. the owners will think about moving back if possible. more police presence at these facilities. but state, local federal officials working together and trying to scout out and

determine who may be targeting thesed facilities. and one of the things that i think is -- at this point -- how he acquired all of the explosives. >> eric: we'll be back with more news in a second. this is the sound of an asthma attack...

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>> eric: should a millennial get a covid shot before mom and dad? some staffers are getting them. congress' attending physician said that two staffers in every house member are eligible. the first round is meant for the most critical employees keeping the government running. this means they're jumping ahead in line of older americans.

is that fair? let's bring in dr. bob from new york's medical college. doctor, just nine blocks from the it is that and office buildings on capitol hill, there's a long-term care facility for seniors. why should a 20 something-year-old congressional staffer get priority over a senior that is far more vulnerable to dying from covid? >> eric, that was not the plan of the cdc. the cdc advisory council on immunization practice suggested healthcare workers first and then long-term care facility residents, particularly those with comorbidity. that they be immunized. i understand the continuation of our government is very important and key people such as the speaker of the house and the senate majority leader would have to be immunized in the off chance that they might be infected. if they were infected, would the government come to a halt.

if significant members of congress and the senate are infected with the virus, that does pose a major problem. so i guess on one hand, eric, you could consider them essential employees. >> i can understand that and someone could argue key government officials perhaps. but, you know, staff members were all due respect, this has caused a storm on washington between rand paul, for example, and congress woman alexandria ocasio-cortez. this is what rand paul said. he was mad. "i think it would be unconscionable for someone to get it that doesn't have to have it. he thinks it's unconscionable for alexandria ocasio-cortez to be smiling and getting the vaccine when you have 85-year-old people in nursing homes that haven't gotten it. not to mention the older members of the senate who are there. doesn't senator paul have a

point? >> i do think he has a point. i think it is probable that the older people should be in line to get the vaccine. you know, this is sort of like getting on an airplane. you have the 1 a passengers and the 1 b passengers. same thing. it all depends on whether you and i and the public think the congressional staffers and senate staffers are critical to the function of our government and when these representatives, young though they may be and certainly if they are infected may not suffer the significant pain and possibly death that an older person would experience. so i agree with you. i think it's important to get those people in that nursing home that is near the capitol immunized first. >> so far 42 members of the house and senate have come down with covid and good wishes to go

down to them. you don't want to get it. you're a doctor. you know that. you tonight -- don't want to get it. protect yourself. so watching this right now and you list in an assisted living center, at the villages in florida or a nursing home, this sort of thing. how do you know you're going to get it? how do you get called first? >> there are protocols that are followed where the nursing homes, according to state law, following the guidelines of the cdc advisory council, should be directing people to receive the vaccine in short order. this is the law. it really should make nursing home directors and nursing home physicians and sort of advance practice nurses aware of the fact that they should have enough vaccine for their facilities. if they don't know how to do it, they should call their state boards of health. >> eric: thanks, dr. bob. help is on the way as they say.

hopefully at some point soon this will be over. doctor, thank you. >> thank you, eric. >> eric: coming up next, china's lies and covid cover-ups, they appear worse than it seems. that's the word from china. a new study is covering the jaw-dropping truth behind the virus' spread in that communist country and how they covered it up. and a bomb shell investigation on something that every one of us has eaten. for so long. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. i'm still clear, five years now. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur.

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>> eric: time for headlines for the hour. looks like that senate vote will not come today open raising the amount of covid relief for most americans. mitch mcconnell saying the senate will begin considering the payments sometime this week, but he's stopping short of promising an exact vote. president trump got himself

aligned with democrats by calling for an increase in aid checks to $2,000 each. cookies or ice cream over the holiday? a chance that it came from child labor. kids making little to know pay while exposing themselves to toxic chemicals. that report from the a.p. it's an investigation into the trade of palm oil. palm oil is the most used vegetable oil in the world. the report found rampant child labor in indonesia which supplies 80% of the palm oil of the world. the first passengers have flown on a 737 max since the jet was grounded two years ago after the crashings. american airlines returning the max to the sky. flew a flight from miami to new york. boeing made changes to the on board systems. for more, download the fox news

app, scan the qr code on the screen or go to foxnews.com. president-elect joe biden giving an update on his plan to control the coronavirus pandemic. expect him to speak about that at any minute now. hillary vaughn is with fox business reporting live from the transition head quarters in wilmington, delaware where we expect mr. biden to speak momentarily. hi, hillary. >> hi, eric. any moment now we're expecting president-elect biden to wrap up a briefing his having with his covid advisory team right now. after that, we expect a public update on where things stand right now. a transition official tells fox news that biden will give americans a grim forecast of what lies ahead. the good news of the vaccine finally being rolled out is being overshadowed today. biden will say that death and infection rates are expected to go up in the next several weeks. he also will criticize the trump administration for what

president-elect biden will say has not kept pace with the number of vaccines that have been rolled out so far compared to what they were expected to. so we expect president-elect biden to give his plan on what he will do differently in order to expedite the number of vaccinations going out. biden already got the vaccine himself and today his vice president-elect kamala harris did as well. while she got vaccinated, she played the point that having a working and effective vaccine does not do the country any good if no one takes it. harris said she wouldn't take the vaccine if president trump told her to. now she's doing the opposite, encouraging people to take the vaccine saying she trusts the scientists, that it's safe. >> so like the saying, there's a being difference between the vaccine and vaccinations. i want to encourage everyone to get the vaccine. it is relatively painless. it happens really quickly and safe and i trust the scientists.

it is the scientists that created and approved this vaccine. >> eric, the new relief bill that the president signed into law sunday has $69 billion allocated to help expedite vaccine roll-out and get the vaccine into more arms. we'll see today if president-elect biden thinks there needs to be more federal funding to help do that. eric? >> eric: hillary, we'll have mr. biden's remarks to you when he steps up to the podium. we wait for that and his update on the covid plan. a new study out of china shows that 500,000 people in wuhan had the coronavirus, ten times more than the country's official count. let's bring in lee seldon from the first congressional district in new york. congressman, they say from the numbers that china first put out, actually the number of

infections was ten times more. you think china covered it up to an extent that was more massive than every one first thought? >> not surprised at all. they have been misleading the world, the world health organization, the united states, everybody since this started. if there were scientists or journalists that would speak up and try to educate the world as to what was going on since the beginning, these individuals would get arrested. one of the keys to fighting and preventing an epidemic, a pandemic is early detection. that was sacrificed early on. people with the chinese come u communist party were blaming the u.s. army for bringing the virus to wuhan. so we're not surprised to learn that the numbers were downplayed, this is the way the

ccp operates. misleading the world. a huge cost as a result of it and a disinformation campaign coming out of china thought this entire timeline has been more common place than the alternative of actually getting truth and values. >> yeah, they apparently lied to the world health organization saying it's not contagious. so they put out the tweet in january saying don't worry about it. it's not contagious. man, what should the biden administration do about this? the president has been clear. he's come under criticism for calling it the china virus. do you think that joe biden will be tough enough and be able to respond appropriately to this threat? what should he do? >> well, joe biden has not been tough as relates to china. there are issues with regards to just how compromised he is on that front. what i would say is that you have -- for one, the united states, one of our instruments

of national power is information. we know about diplomacy and economic pressure. there's more instruments of national power. one of them is information. it's important for us to be projecting our own truth and our own values upon the world to set the record straight, to push back on disinformation. additionally though is where you might have, say, a news outlet that might have a website that is frequented by americans. the american has no idea that this is a website that could be originating from china, that could have ccp influence. then that american who might be going to that website to be informed on what is going on in the world would be getting ccp talking points. so it's important for us whether it's everything from the department of justice and the use of fara to the reporting where, for example, in qatar,

al-jazeera is owned by that media. same thing with china. they have their presence in the united states. that aspect of pushing back is important as well. not just to project truth abroad but also to set the story straight here at home. >> eric: you know, finally there's always been the policy in washington has been to say to liberalize china, the biden administration wants them to rejoin the world health organization. if you reach out to join, it will liberalize them. they'll rejoin the international community of the globe and be good actors and behave with the same values as a free democratic nations. do you buy that? first of all, do you buy that? if not, what type of action should be taken? >> well, we cannot be naive as we approach china. they have a very long game. here in the united states, we might look at ten years to be a long time. ten years in the life of a

country. if you're a nation like china or iran and some of these other countries, it's nothing in the live of a country. so when we're engaging with china, using the multiple instruments of national power, you have a population within a country that is only getting brainwashed to one way of thinking and that's the ccp way of thinking from the human rights violations to china's activities, just around outside of its borders, there's a lot to pushing back working with the world community. we cannot do this alone. the united states, we have enough to take care of here within our own country but we have nations allieded with surrounding china. to give them tools, assistance to be able to protect the integrity of their own borders and push back on china aggression is important. so not within china and the chinese people but also some of the nations around it. but we have to certainly -- can't be naive. we have to understand china has

a long game here and their approach far outlives one presidential administration to the next. >> eric: and they're set to be the threat of this century. congressman lee seldon, first direct new york. republican. congressman, thank you so much. >> thank you, eric. >> eric: congressman mentioned mr. biden and his policy and strategy in dealing with beijing. there's the podium where we will see the president-elect momentarily to talk about covid, his plan and how to beat it. we'll have that in a moment when we come back. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, ...little things... ...can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla.

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♪and if we win, we get to tell you how liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. isn't that what you just did? service! ♪ stand back, i'm gonna show ya ♪ ♪ how doug and limu roll, ya ♪ >> eric: joe biden is in delaware. let's listen in. >> we need the steel our spines for what is ahead. we need to follow more closely the recommendations to slow the spread of the virus. each of us do what we can to protect ourselves, our families and our fellow americans. we're going to get through this. brighter days are coming. it's going to take all the grit

and determination we have as americans to get it done. so today, i want to be clear about five things every american should know about our efforts to contain covid-19 and where the vaccine stands today. first, things are going to get worse before they get better. in september, we passed a grim milestone. 200,000 deaths. at that time in this room, i warned that we hit 400,000 deaths before the end of the trump administration in january. critics said i was being too alarmist and negative. as i said, i'll tell you like it is when it comes to covid. reality is looks like we're going to hit a grim milestone. we just crossed 330,000 deaths in america. averaging daily death rates of 2,200 people, which means we'll lose tens of thousands more

lives in the months to come. hospitals are being stretched beyond capacity. that is data before we see the impact of the cases coming from the recent holidays and this upcoming holiday of new year's eve. people getting infected today don't show up in cases for weeks. those that persist -- excuse me. those that perish in the disease die weeks after initial exposure. we have to anticipate infections over the holidays will produce soaring cases and counts in january and ensuring death tolls into february. turning this around will take time. we might not see improvement until we're well in to march as we'll take time for our covid response plan to regin to reduce visible progress. the second thing to know, the trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling

behind. far behind. we're grateful to the companies. the doctors, the scientists, the researchers, the clinical trial participants and operation warp speed for developing the vaccines quickly. as i long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should. a few weeks ago, the trump administration suggested that 20 million americans could be vaccinated by the end of december. with only a few days left in december, we vaccinated a few million so far. the pace of the vaccination program is moving now as it continues to move now, it's going to take years, not months to vaccinate the american people which brings me to the third thing every american should know. the biden and harris administration will spare no effort to make sure people get vaccinated. i've laid out three challenges in our first 100 days.

one of them is ensuring that 100 million shots have been administered by the end of the first 100 days. congress provides the funding, we'll be able to meet this incredible goal. it will take ramping up five to six times the current pace to one million shots a day. even with that improvement, even if we boost the speed of vaccinations to one million shots a day, we'll still take months to have the majority of the united states population vaccinated. i've directed my team to prepare as much more -- a much more aggressive effort and more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track. we'll find ways to boost the pace of vaccinations. as dr. fauci and others have stated, these past few days, this will take more time than anyone would like and more time than the promises from the trump administration have suggested.

this is doing to be the greatest operational challenge we've ever faced as a nation. we're going to get it done. just going to take a vast new effort that is not yet under way. that gets me to the fourth thing we should know. i'm going to move heaven and earth to get us in the right direction. i'm going to use my power under the defense production act when i'm sworn in in order -- and order private industry to accelerate making of the materials for the vaccines as well as protective gear. vice president harris and i have been speaking to -- with county officials, mayors, governors of both parties to speed up the distribution of the vaccines across the nation. we're planning a whole government effort and we're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-reach communities, hard to reach

communities. we also know there's a vaccination hesitancy in many communities, especially black and latino communities that have not always been treated with the dignity and honesty that they deserve by the federal government. that's why we will launch a massive public education campaign to increase vaccine acceptance. we'll do everything we can to show vaccines are safe. critically important for one's own health and that of their families a and the communities. that means we're also going to make sure vaccines are distributed equitably so every person who wants a vaccine can get it no matter the color of their skin or where they live. we're going to ensure vaccinations are free of charge. while the pandemic rages on and as we increase the supply, distribution and administration of the vaccine, we have to remain vigilant.

as part of the 100-day challenge, i'm going to be asking the american people to wear a mask. the first 100 days of my administration. it's not a political statement. it's a patriotic duty. our administration is going to require a mask-wearing where i have the power to do so. for federal workers, interstate travel like planes and trains. and we've been working directly with county officials, mayors, governors to implement mask mandates in their cities and towns and states. masking has been a divisive issue in this country. covid is a killer in red states and blue states alike. i encourage you to wear a mask. encourage your family and friends to do the same. one of the easiest things that we can do to make a huge difference to save lives. another 100-day challenge is opening most of our k-8 schools by the end of the first 100 days

in the spring. look, we can only do that if congress provides the necessary funding so we get schools, districts and communities and states the resources that they need for so many things that are not there already in a tight budget. they need funding for testing. to help reopen schools. more funding for transportation so students can maintain social distancing on buses. they need it for school buildings, for additional cleaning services, protective equipment, ventilation systems. this is going to require an additional tens of billions of dollars to get this done. congress also need to fund and provide more protective equipment for front line health workers that are still reusing masks and gowns. need to scale up testing so anyone that needs one can get a test. after ten months of the pandemic, we still don't have enough testing. it's a travesty.

all of this, protective gear will require more funding from congress, more than we just approved. that's why i'll propose a covid action package early next year and challenge congress to act on it quickly. look, my ability to change the direction of this pandemic starts in three weeks. thousands dying every day, between now and then, let me conclude by discussing what need to happen now. i congratulate the bipartisan majority and the president on signing the covid relief bill. it's still a step -- an important step in the right direction. and it will help people in need. it will pay for some but not all of what we need to fix the covid response. it's a down payment. now that don, i hope the

president will also clearly unambiguously promote mask watering. i give former governor chris christy credit. he and i have disagreed on a number of things. i'm thankful he's encouraging people to do the right thing to wear a mask for themselves and their loved ones and our could you try. i hope president trump will listen to him. he can do it too. make a huge difference for president trump to say wear masks. hope the president will clearly urge all americans to take the vaccine when it's available. i took it to instill public confidence in the vaccine. president-elect harris took her today for the same reason. when the president's doctors recommend it, president trump should take it and still the same degree of confidence. let me say this to the american people. we can save a all the experts

tell us between 60 and 100,000 lives in the weeks and months ahead if we just step up together. wear a mask. socially distance. wash our hands. avoid large indoor gatherings. i know they're not easy to ask. i'm asking you to make a sacrifice. you're making sacrifices every day. it's hard on your lives and your lively hoods and your kids and your families. it's not small what we're asking of you. but we're in this together. actions we take now will help us contain the pandemic and get us back to our lives and loved ones. so the american people, to all of you, i know there's a lot that we have to do. i want you to know there's also much we can do. we're the united states of america. we went through hard times before as a nation. we'll come through this as well.

i promise you we will. so please, i wish you a happy new year. may god bless you and may god protect our troops. wear a mask. >> eric: somber words from president-elect joe biden saying it will get worse before it gets better. they did say that later on next year, the covid crisis should improve. he did warn because of the holiday travel, the get togethers before christmas, hanukkah and the coming new year celebrations that the cases will spike tremendously. he expects a very tough next several months. one prediction said that -- indicated 500,000 americans could be dead by the end of february. he also said he will resort to the defense production act to bring out more vaccines, seeking

100 million in 100 days. trying to seek a massive effort to fight coronavirus more so. he says wear a mask. we're here monday through friday, 3:00 p.m. eastern. set your dvr and never miss a report. >> 4:00 on the east coast. president-elect joe biden taking aim at president trump's vaccine distribution plan and announcing a five-point plan of his own. welcome. i'm sandra smith in for neil cavuto. this is "your world." let's go to david spunt with the latest on what we just heard. as far as biden, not enough testing so far. the vaccine process he says is going slowly. he thinks we're not -- we have not hit the worst part of this yet. also struck me that he suggested that we may not even see improvement overall in this pandemic until at least march. >> yeah, sandra. good afternoon. good to be with you.